Contemporary dance fans can get up close and personal with performers of Ray – the latest work to be presented in Dundee by Scottish Dance Theatre.
For Ray, a world premiere that opens the spring 2022 season for the Dundee Rep-based dance company, is being staged in the round.
Audiences are sat on all sides, some on cushions and stools as well as regular seats.
This follows the success of a similar format for an earlier piece, Antigone, Interrupted, which returns to the venue next month.
Special commission to enthral
Ray has been created by acclaimed Israeli choreographer Meytal Blanaru, invited by Scottish Dance Theatre to devise a piece that would challenge dancers and enthral audiences alike.
Her first commission from a UK-based dance company, Ray joins a series of works by Meytal on the theme of communication.
SDT’s artistic director Joan Clevillé first got to know Meytal in 2014 when she was assistant to French-Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet.
This was during the creation of the other-worldly piece titled YAMA, described by the London Evening Standard as “intensely atmospheric”.
Since then, Meytal’s own career has gone from strength to strength.
Collaboration between SDT and the Belgian-based dancer and choreographer is planned for a couple of years, Joan reveals, clearly excited to finally have attracted her to Scotland.
A desire to connect
“I love the way Meytal brings together her interest in movement with a desire to connect with people,” he says.
“The result is a work that is playful and engaging, but also unafraid to ask questions and defy expectations.
“In a way, Ray is about how we come together after two years being apart. It’s inspired by the ways in which we can meet each other and by a desire to connect beyond words.”
Ray follows Meytal’s 2020 powerful feminist solo work Rain and last year’s Undivided, a timely piece exploring what it means to be together, that first appeared in Brussels.
Part of her practice involves the fusion of dance with the Feldenkrais Method, a form of exercise therapy created in Israel, providing a new experience for the performers, Joan adds.
“This has been an incredible journey for the dancers,” he says. “They have been challenged to let go of their habitual movement patterns and discover a new language that is full of nuance and subtlety, but can also be raw and wild.”
Community groups take part
As part of Ray’s development, Meytal invited a range of local community groups to visit the studio and see the work in progress, ranging from the Rep‘s own Beautiful People theatre group for older people to residents from the nearby Jericho House rehab centre.
This has been a key part of the creative process, Meytal explains.
“Their presence has been essential to the development of the work, as we needed to understand how to connect with audiences in a genuine way,” he says.
“It’s been an amazing experience and something that we’ll want to do more of in the future.”
Ray is at Dundee Rep from today, April 14 to April 16
